Treygreen13: Rich Cream: Treygreen13: But that's just it. He's a cat. He'll lay around and look grumpy whether or not he's famous. They're not selling his fur to make Grumpy Quilts. The owners of Grumpy Cat taking him to a music festival so he can be petted and ooh'd and aah'd over isn't exploitation because Grumpy Cat doesn't lose anything. Because he's a cat.

And the money/fame will guarantee that the cat can have the best food/treats/toys/medical care for the rest of his life.

You need to lose something to be exploited? Ummm, no.

1. use or utilization, especially for profit: the exploitation of newly discovered oil fields. 2. selfish utilization: He got ahead through the exploitation of his friends. 3. the combined, often varied, use of public-relations and advertising techniques to promote a person, movie, product, etc.  
You're arguing 2. I'm saying 1 and 3.

Oh, so what you meant was the neutral definition of exploitation. So using him in any way is "exploitation". Got it. Would taking a picture of him and putting it on a website be exploitation, under your definition? How about letting someone come see him at their house? Also exploitation, right? How about telling somebody about Grumpy Cat? Also exploitation?